MIDDLESEX DA RACE: Donna Patalano promises more reforms

Wednesday

Aug 15, 2018 at 9:20 AMAug 15, 2018 at 9:20 AM

Editor's Note: Incumbent Marian Ryan is facing Dona Patalano in the Sept. 4 Democratic primary race Middlesex County District Attorney. There is no Republican registered to run for the seat, however write-in candidates will be allowed in the Nov. 8, 2018 general election. Wicked Local asked each candidate to submit a short biography, list of endorsements received to date, and a 600-word candidate statement.

My name is Donna Patalano, and I’m running to be our next district attorney because I believe the residents of Middlesex County deserve a leader who prioritizes both safety and social justice. Criminal justice reforms, like expanding restorative justice programs, decreasing pretrial incarceration and ending the use of mandatory minimums, make our communities safer.

I didn’t start my career as a prosecutor. After attending Boston University, I worked in healthcare management. I decided to go to law school in my 30's to start a career where I could make an impact on people’s lives and on whole communities. My son and I bought our backpacks on the same day -- he went off to first grade, and I started law school at Boston College.

As a prosecutor, I worked at the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office. There, I served as the chief of professional integrity and ethics and created the first Conviction Integrity Program in the commonwealth. I have been counsel of record for 120 cases in the Massachusetts Appeals Court and argued more than 20 cases before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. As a defense attorney, I represented clients who could not afford an attorney.

According to a 2017 poll by the ACLU, only 48 percent of Massachusetts voters think our criminal justice system is working. What’s more, a majority of voters believe the system works differently for different people. Through my work as a prosecutor and a defense attorney, I can tell you that those poll results, sadly, are spot on. That’s why more than eight in 10 voters think Massachusetts needs criminal justice system reform now.

District attorneys are the most powerful officials in the criminal justice system. DAs play a major role in deciding who goes to trial, the outcomes of individual cases, and also sets criminal justice policy. When police charge someone with a crime, the DA makes the decision about what happens: whether the person goes to trial or diversion, how harsh the penalty should be, or if the person gets a second chance. Today in Massachusetts, we incarcerate eight times as many black people as white people. DAs are uniquely positioned to promote justice and equal treatment while reducing mass incarceration.

I’m running to be DA to implement evidence-based criminal justice reforms. When we have a system that prioritizes rehabilitation, dedicates resources to diversion and restorative justice and treats opioid addiction as a disease instead of as a crime, our communities will be safer. When we implement better ways to get people to their court appearance, rather than keeping them incarcerated (disrupting their jobs, schooling, families, and communities before they’ve had their day in court) because they can’t pay $100 in cash bail, our communities will be safer.

I am running for Middlesex County DA to ensure a person from Lowell gets treated the same as a person from Weston, and I’ll make sure we can prove it. I’ll collect data to evaluate equity in the handling and outcome of cases, and I will regularly report that data to the public.

To lead this vital community conversation on criminal justice reform, I’m running a grassroots campaign. Our team of volunteers is out every day knocking on doors, making phone calls, and meeting voters in every one of the 54 cities and towns in Middlesex County. The Democratic primary is less than a month away on Sept.r 4, and there’s a lot to do! I hope you’ll join us in the fight for criminal justice reform. Visit Donna4DA.com to learn more.